


Haunted

by mcschnuggles



Series: Busted [2]
Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, CGRE - Caregiver/Age Regressor, Caregiver!L, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Littles are Known AU, Not Canon Compliant, Regressing!Light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 13:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20047054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcschnuggles/pseuds/mcschnuggles
Summary: Light can't remember the Death Note, but that doesn't stop the nightmares.





	Haunted

For the first time in years, Light dreams.

In his dream, he sees things he doesn’t understand. A hulking, six-foot monster, with leathery wings and long claws. No matter where Light runs, he can’t escape.

The more he runs, the more abstract his surroundings become. People collapsing, screaming, praising a pretend god. Blood. Fire. And the monster, laughing all the while.

Light jolts awake, his knuckles aching from how tightly he’s gripping his pillow. He lets out a shallow breath, trying to get a hold of his breathing. His head is swimming, and if he’s not careful, he could pass out.

He rolls off his stomach and sits up. It’s easier to breathe when he’s upright, and the slow, deliberate breaths help to clear his head. He lets the nausea roll over him until he feels confident enough to check the clock.

Based on how late or early it is, he’ll have to decide if it’s worth it to try going back to sleep. He takes another deep breath, and then opens his eyes.

A pair of glowing red eyes stare back.

With a barely muffled cry, Light falls out of bed.

Heart racing, Light frantically looks around the room. There’s no sign of the previous looming monster, as if it had never been there in the first place.

_It wasn’t_, Light tells himself harshly. He’s grappled with his overactive imagination for years, but it’s always worse in the middle of the night. Nightmares only make things worse.

He yearns for the day when he could get through the night with sleep aids, but he doubts he can get another prescription, doubts even more that L would let him.

He needs to get out of this room, take a moment, calm his head. There’s a distant thought in the back of his mind, saying that a lap around the house will also help him plan an escape route—after all, he’s still not even sure where he _is_.

The door opens with a soft click, creaking ever so slightly. The hallway is completely dark. The silence of the house roars in his ears.

He measures his steps carefully, grateful that the floor doesn’t creak as well. The only sounds in the hall are the rustling of his clothes as he walks.

“A little late for a glass of water, isn’t it?”

Light whirls, fighting every instinct telling him to duck his head and make himself smaller. The words “in trouble” pulsed in the back of his head like a mantra, but he ignored them.

After all, “in trouble”? Just how pathetic was he becoming? No, he’s not going to act guilty for sneaking out past his bedtime. He doesn’t even _have_ a bedtime! His body just wants him to have one.

L regards him coolly, hands in his pockets, bags under his eyes. “Still with the silent treatment, I see.” Biting his thumb, L proceeds closer. He doesn’t make a single sound while he moves. No wonder Light hadn’t heard him coming.

Light fights the urge to close his eyes, to clap his hands over his ears and pretend like L isn’t here. He hates this, hates that when he doesn’t speak, L can just give him a once-over and deduce everything that’s wrong with him.

He can’t help flinching when L reaches for him.

“Now, now,” L chides, but there’s sympathy in his voice. He pushes back Light’s bangs to feel his forehead. “No fever, so based on how your hands are shaking, this must be some sort of fear response. Would you like to talk about it?”

This is his test, Light decides. This is how he’ll prove he’ll be big. He body calls to him to lean into the touch, to open up and relax, but he refuses. He’ll be a big boy, one that doesn’t need someone else’s comfort.

L persists. “I would like you to trust me if something’s wrong.”

And in that moment, Light couldn’t feel more vulnerable. He picks at the cartoon rockets printed on his pajama pants—a gift from Watari after he found out Light was fond of space—and keeps his eyes on the floor. He continues to say nothing.

L exhales. “Very well. I’ll be in my quarters if you need me. Please get back to bed.”

Light has half a mind to stay up all night just to spite him, but his body protests. Now that the adrenaline has drained out of him, he’s back to being exhausted. He couldn’t stay up any later if he tried.

He shuffles under the covers, asleep within seconds.

It feels like only moments before the nightmares return.

The monster from before is back, slightly realer this time. While before, it was a shadow, now the details were more defined. It looked as if Light could reach out and touch it, which he really didn’t want to. This monster is all spikes and skulls and very scary things.

The monster grins at him. Its teeth are even sharper than before, glinting every inch of the dim light. “Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten me.” When Light doesn’t respond, it steps closer, puffing hot breath into his face. “You always were a fun one, Light.”

Light tries to scream, but no sound comes out, so instead he chooses to thrash his limbs, as if he could fight his way out of the dream. In a way, he was right, because he hits the floor with a terrible thud, which jolts him right into consciousness.

A door behind him opens, and a familiar shadow falls at his feet.

“This is the second time you’ve gotten out of bed.”

Light steels his shoulders, which feels a lot more like defensively hunching them. “I’m not tired.”

A wry smile comes to L’s face. “You’re not a very good liar, Light. You have a very noticeable tell. You scrunch your forehead when you’re not telling the truth.” He reaches out, playfully tapping Light’s forehead. “Like so.”

Light tries to keep his expression neutral. What’s Light going to do to him? Punish him? At least his voice can’t betray him. It’s not like he’s going to answer that.

L sighs, slipping his hands back into his pockets. “Well, if you’re not going to go back to bed, perhaps you’d like to work with me. I’m in the middle of a case you might find interesting.”

Light hesitates. It’s certainly better than being alone, and technically, it doesn’t count as giving in, right? He’s still a big boy, and he doesn’t need any comforting. Besides, little kids aren’t allowed to help solve criminal cases.

Wordlessly, he follows behind L.

They haven’t left Japan yet, so they’re still in Kira Task Force HQ. L takes his usual place in front of a smattering of monitors. At least half of them are still dedicated to tracking any suspicious deaths, in case Kira decides to return, but the rest are focused on different minor cases.

L pats the empty seat beside him, inviting Light over.

L goes over the specifics of the case, but all the information does is raise questions. Why would L take such an interest in a small-time murder case? He seemed like the type to really only take up cases that he cared about.

The only conclusion he could come to was that maybe L was trying to generate more income, but he couldn’t be that low on funds, could he?

Light rubs at his eyes, his mouth curved in what is most definitely not a pout. L actually thought he’d find this interesting? “It was the wife.”

“The missing person in this case? How do you figure?”

“There was too much blood at the crime scene for one person. She either has been storing her blood, making this premeditated, or used some sort of animal blood mixed with her own.”

L’s eyes light up, the way they do only when he’s had a breakthrough. “Very good. Just what I was thinking.”

They go through three more cases, each one easier than the last. And with each conclusion, L gives him an encouraging pat on the head and confirms he was thinking the exact same thing.

Light gets the feeling that this is more to affirm L’s assumptions than actually discover something new, but he doesn’t mind. It helps take his mind off…things.

“Light.” L says suddenly.

The sound of his name makes Light’s insides go cold. That’s the tone his mom used to use when he was in trouble. He can only imagine that L will be more of the same.

Instead, L leans forward, busying himself by clicking at random things on monitors. Light’s too tired to follow the actions, so for all he knows, L could very well be closing and reopening the same few programs repeatedly to avoid eye contact. “Your contributions to the Kira case have been invaluable. Without you, we wouldn’t have known that Kira’s powers are transferrable, nor would we know that he can cover his own tracks by making people forget anything about him. I can’t overstress how lucky we’ve been to have you.”

Light shrinks back into his chair. “Thanks…”

“That being said, if there’s anything you’ve been withholding, I’d like you to know that it won’t be held against you.”

That’s what he’s aiming for. L thinks Light remembers something else about Kira. Well, unfortunately, he doesn’t, and not for lack of trying. But his memories are nonexistent, and the more he tries to fish for them, the more they fall out of his reach.

“It’s not about the Kira case.” Light finally says. He gets the feeling L consciously backed him into this corner, to force him to open up about his nightmares.

“Then what is it?”

“I’ve…been having trouble sleeping.” He can’t bring himself to say the word “nightmares.” It just seems to childish. At least for now.

“I see. Anything else you’d like to share?”

Light shakes his head.

“I see. Well, taking recent events into account, I think it might be best if you stay in here with me. After all, I can’t have you wandering off again.”

Light tries not to scoff at the phrase “wandering off,” like there could be anywhere for him to go. Like there aren’t security cameras at the door that would alert L the second he left the building.

“I believe there’s a blanket under this desk.”

His words leave no room for argument, so Light retrieves the blanket. From the dim light of the computer screens, Light can make out printed sheep on the fabric. He makes no effort to hide his grimace, because there can be such a thing as _too_ cute.

“Excellent.” L plucks the folded blanket from Light’s hands and tucks the blanket up around his neck, albeit a tad sloppily.

While Light had first thought he wasn’t tired, his eyes quickly grow heavy. He rests his head against L’s bony shoulder, which is more comfortable than it has any right to be.

Despite his fears, despite his misgivings, Light drifts off in a matter of seconds.

For the first time that night, his dreams don’t turn against him. Even half-upright in a chair, he sleeps through the night.

He never knew L was so good at keeping the monsters away.

**Author's Note:**

> mcschnuggles.tumblr.com


End file.
